Antique French Louis XVI Marquetry Commode

This is a genuine late eighteenth-century commode and it shows the wear of its age honestly. Please read this section with the photos, which govern.

The top had an open, full-length shrinkage split with cupping and lifting to the boards along it. We have glued and stabilized the top; the boards now sit substantially back in plane and the split is closed and repaired along its length, with a fine residual line and slight variation still visible at the edge on close inspection. The top is solid and stable. This is a disclosed structural repair to the most visible surface of the piece and is shown in the photographs. There is veneer loss and lifting at the top right drawer corner, a smaller loss along the top front edge, and a loss to one inlaid corner spandrel. Scattered small veneer chips, lifting, and old filled areas appear across the front and top consistent with age. The parquetry is otherwise sound and well figured.

All three drawer bottoms have significant shrinkage splits running the length of the riven pine boards, wide and open in places, consistent with age and seasonal movement. The drawers remain functional but the splits are substantial and are shown in the photographs. Old worm flight is present across the drawer sides, bottoms, and backboards; I have not had the piece tested for active infestation and am noting the flight as historic in appearance only.

The surface has been cleaned and waxed at some point; this is a later surface and I cannot establish the original finish or the method used, so I am not calling it original. The primary show wood is veneer over a softwood and fruitwood carcass. Because it is veneered and figured I am giving the species as an assessment rather than a proven fact: it reads as figured oak and fruitwood with walnut and boxwood banding, but I have not confirmed species and the banding could include other fruitwoods.

The backboards are riven and hand-worked with genuine old worm flight and oxidation, secured with cut nails. The drawers are hand-dovetailed and run, with wear to the runners and drawer edges as expected. The original oval pulls and beaded escutcheons are present and appear original to the piece; the locks are present but I have not tested them and no keys are present. The legs are sound. Dimensions are as measured. Sold as-is, with the photographs governing the sale.

#103